This case-study research investigated how newly hired engineers at a large manufacturing company learned what they were expected to do during their first year on the job, as well as how they were expected to do their work and why it was done that way (the social norms of the organization). Two major findings challenge and extend the traditional…

Current scholarship views organizational socialization as a learning process that is primarily the responsibility of the newcomer. Yet recent learning research recognizes the importance of the social interactions in the learning process. This study investigated how newly hired engineers at a large manufacturing company learned job-related tasks…